As fate would have it, the tie came on the same day that the result of Ilie Nastase's appeal was announced following his shocking conduct during last April's World Group II play-off against Romania.

The former world number one, who was Romania captain for the tie, had his ban reduced but his fine doubled for offences including inappropriate conduct towards GB captain Anne Keothavong and verbal abuse of Keothavong, Johanna Konta and match officials.

Nastase's behaviour somewhat overshadowed Britain's defeat, which condemned the side to another year in the Europe/Africa Zone.

Keothavong's team must top their round-robin group and then win a play-off on Saturday to give themselves another shot of getting into World Group II.

The crunch match is likely to come on Friday when they take on hosts Estonia, who boast two top-70 players in Anett Kontaveit and Kaia Kanepi.